Program sequence initiator

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a power supply for generating an electrical pulse. More particularly, the invention is a power supply for generating an electrical pulse including a housing, at least one coil of wire supported by the housing, a magnetic rotor supported by the housing and rotatable relative to the coil, and spring means interconnected to the magnetic rotor and adapted upon unwinding of the spring means to rotate the magnetic rotor relative to the coil to induce a voltage pulse in the coil.

United States Patent Inventors Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee PROGRAM SEQUENCE INITIATOR Primary Examiner-D,X. Sliney Attorney-Head & Johnson ABSTRACT: This invention relates to apower supply for generating an electrical pulse. More particularly, theinvention is a power supply for generating an electrical pulse includinga housing, at least one coil of wire supported by the hous- 7 Claims,4Drawing Figs. ing, a magnetic rotor supported by the housing androtatable U 5 CI 310/ relative to the coil, and spring meansinterconnected to the ale/75A, magnetic rotor and adapted upon unwindingof the spring means to rotate the magnetic rotor relative to the coil toin- Int. (I uo 7/18 a voltage pulse in the coil. Field of Search 310/75A, 75 B, 69, 66; 29011 E 5 4 /V V 7 '24A 50 '26 INVENTOR. STAUDER ATTOR/VE Y5 BOB E. WILLIAM O. CHRISTIANSON BY SHEET 1 OF 2 PATENTED DEC281971 PROGRAM SEQUENCE INITIATOR BACKGROUND ANDOBJECTS OF THE INVENTIONIt is frequently necessary to provide an electrical voltage pulse forinitiating a system event or sequence. As an example, pilot-ejectingdevices require a voltage pulse to actuate a sequence of events as apart of the pilot escape system. Obviously, voltage pulses can beinitiated utilizing electrical energy available from the aircraftelectrical system. However, in order for the pilot escape system to becompletely dependable it must be designed to function in the event offailure of the aircraft electrical system. Batteries may be utilized asa backup or supplement to the aircraft electrical system however everyknown type of battery has a limited life, and in any event anyaccidental current leakage soon dissipates the batter. Thereforebatteries are undesirable since they must be frequently checked toassure their ready state. It is therefore an object of this invention toprovide a power supply for generating an electrical pulse which can beutilized by way of example in an aircraft pilot ejection system toproduce a voltage pulse when desired independent of the aircraftelectrical system.

Another object of this invention is to provide a power supply forgenerating an electrical pulse which remains dependable for an unlimitedlength of time and which does not have to be periodically checked tomake certain that it is in a ready state.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device for generatingan electrical pulse upon the physical unwinding of a coil spring.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device for producing atime space sequence of electrical pulses upon the unwinding of a coilspring.

These general objects as well as more specific objects of the inventionwill be understood by reference to the description and claims taken inconjunction with the attached drawings.

SUMMARY Generally the power supply of this invention comprises anelectrical alternator which utilizes a coil spring for rotatably drivingthe rotor thereof. The rotor has received thereon for common rotationtherewith magnetic means whose lines of force cut electrical coils wouldon the armature of the alternator to induce a voltage pulse in thecoils.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I of the drawings is a partial topcross-sectional view of the pulse generator of this invention.

FIG. 2 of the drawings is a side cross-sectional view of the electricalpulse generator of this invention.

FIG. 3 of the drawings is a cross-sectional view of the power supply ofthis invention taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 of the drawings is an electrical schematic of the power supply ofthis invention as used in a pilot ejection system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS.1 and 2, the components of the pulse generator of this invention areshown in cross section. An enclosed housing 10 is shown having receivedat the rearward end thereof connectors I2 for receiving electricalconductors which transmit the voltage pulse generated by the powersupply of this invention to end devices (not shown) for utilizationtherein.

Disposed within housing lnormal to the longitudinal axis thereof andpermanently secured to an inner wall thereof by means of angle bracketI4 is an electrical alternator I6. Alternator 16 includes an outercircular casing 18 which coaxially receives and carries therein a rotorsupport member 20. Rotor support member 20 includes a barrel 22 and atthe rearward end of barrel portion 22 a normal annular flange 28 whichprovides spacing between outer casing 18 and barrel 22 for accommodatingarmature coils 30 and laminations therefor. There may be a single coilor a plurality of coils depending upon the design requirements of eachparticular application. For example when the power supply is to be usedto initiate a typical pilot ejection system as will be discussedsubsequently three coils are required. Rotatably carried on bearingraceways 24A and 248 in barrel 22 is a magnetic member comprised of arotor shaft 26 and a permanent field magnet 32 carried by shaft 26directly inwardly of coils 30. Magnet 32 has at one end a north polarityand at the other end a south polarity. When required byparticularapplication the rotor may carry a plurality of field magnets.Rotation of rotor shaft 26 results in the cutting of coils 30 by themagnetic field emanating from field magnet 32 thereby inducting avoltage in the coils 30.

The forward end of rotor shaft 26 riding in bearing raceway 248 containsan open ended slot 34 access to which is gained by axial aperture 35 inthe forward end of rotor support member 20.

Rotation of rotor 26 is obtained by a spring-biasing assembly locatedwithin housing 10 forward of alternator l6. Forwardly spaced fromalternator 16 is a bracket 36 secured to the inner wall of housing 10normal to the longitudinal axis thereof. Bracket 36 contains atransverse hole which receives a bearing race 38 which in turn rotatablycarries the forward end of an arbor 40. Arbor 40 rearwardly extends frombracket 38 to alternator l6 and includes at the rearward end thereof atongue, rectangular in cross section, which projects rearwardly throughaperture 35 to become keyed in the open ended slow 34 on the forward endof rotor shaft 26. The forward end of arbor 40 projects forwardly ofbracket 36 and has cut therein a second open ended slot 42.

Intermediate bracket 36 and alternator 16 is a flat coil spring 44encirculating arbor 40 and having the inner end thereof secured to arbor40 and the outer end thereof appropriately secured to housing 10 as canbe seen in FIG. 3. As is well known, coil springs in the wound state arecapable of indefinitely storing potential energy which is converted intokinetic energy during the transition from the wound to the unwoundstate. Coil spring 44 serves the purpose of imparting rotative movementto arbor 40 and rotor shaft 26 during the unwinding thereof.

A pawl 46 pivotally secured to housing 10 forward of bracket 36 has areduced thickness edge portion 48 engagea ble in open ended slot 42 toretain coil spring 44 in the wound ready state. Pivotal movement of pawl46 is manually controlled by a hand actuator 50 which at the rearwardend thereof engages an elongated slot 52 in pawl 46. Hand actuator 50projects forwardly from housing 10 and is slidably received in a tubularsheath 54 which has therein a borehole 56. For each hand manipulationthereof the forward endof hand actuator 50 projects beyond sheath 54 andmay include an aperture therein or other means' for further facilitatinghand manipulation. The length of elongated slot 52 permits a certainamount of free travel of hand actuator 50 before pivotal movement ofpawl 54is initiated. A resilient O-ring 55 prohibits entrance ofmoisture into the interior of housing 10.

Positive engagement'of reduced edge portion 48 of pawl 46 is open endedslot 42 of arbor 40 is assured by helical spring 57 received in borehole56 of the sheath and abutting against a ring washer 58 secured to therearward end of hand actuator 50.

A second method of disengaging pawl 54 from open-ended slot 42 isprovided by an explosive actuator plunger mechanism 60 appropriatelydisposed within housing 10 and adopted upon energization thereof toforwardly pivot pawl 46.

A leaf spring 61 is provided to prohibit reengagement of pawl 46 in openended slot 42 once the pulse generating cycle has been commenced by theunwinding of coil spring 44.

Visual indication of thestate of the coil spring 44 is provided byindicator 62 hermetically sealed over an aperture in the side of casing10. Coil spring 44 is painted in contrasting colors so that in the woundcondition one color will appear to the eye looking through the indicator62 while a different contrasting color will appear to the eye when thespring is in the unwound state. 6

FIG. 4 of the drawings schematically shows the electric circuit of apilot escape system utilizing the power supply of this invention as thevoltage generating source. The schematic is shown by way of example onlyand is merely one of the many instances where the power supply of thisinvention can be applied to furnish voltage to the electric circuit. Thepilot escape system shown incorporates the electrical components oftypical pilot escape systems and includes a thermal battery recoverysequencer 64, an arm restraint thruster 66, an inertia reel 68, a canopykickoff 70, a second seat 72', and a rocket catapult 74, allschematically represented in FIG. 4. The electrical components of theschematic are represented by block 76 shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings.

Looking now to the schematic of FIG. 4, the output of one of the coils30 is electrically tied to thermal battery recovery sequencer 64 and thearm restraint thruster 66 while the output of a second one of the coils30 is applied to the canopy kickoff 70 and the inertia reel 68. The twocoils just mentioned in the example illustrated contain the same numberof turns and hence at any given time contain the same RMS value ofvoltage thereon. The second seat 72 is tied across outputs of thesefirst two coils as can be seen in the schematic. The remaining coils 30contain more turns than the others and consequently have induced thereina greater RMS voltage. The output of these coils are applied to a DCtime delay circuit through a voltage rectifier 78 which passes therectified pulse through a time delay circuit 82 before it is fed intothe rocket catapult mechanism 74.

In the normal state, coil spring 44 is would and held in the wound stateby engagement of pawl 46 in open ended slot 42 of arbor 40. As has beenpreviously mentioned, the coil spring in the wound state will storepotential energy for an indefinite period of time. When the aircraftwhich the pilot is piloting incurs some mechanical or other malfunctionnecessitating abandonment of the aircraft, the pilot disengages pawl 46from arbor 40 by the forward movement of hand actuator 50 which permitsunwinding of coil spring 44 which in turn rotates arbor 40 and rotorshaft 26. During the rotation of rotor shaft 26, the magnetic fieldemanating from permanent field magnet 32 cuts coils 36 to induce voltagetherein, thereby energizing the components of the pilot ejection system.

The electrical load, timing and size of the coil spring requirements foreach application can be mathematically determined by the use of existingengineering equations. For instance, for the power supply used in theschematic of FIG. 4 for a pilot ejection system an electrical load of300 watts is needed for a total time of 0.025 seconds. Converting theelectrical wattage requirements into torque terms, a flat spring ofapproximately the size 0.013 inch times 1 inch times 66 inches l. Apower supply for generating an electrical pulse comprising:

a housing; a coil supported by said housing: 7 a rotatably supportedrotor shaft having a slotted end; a magnetic member supported by saidshaft: a spring assembly interconnected to said shaft and adapted tostore energy when in a wound state: a release pawl pivotally secured tosaid housing and engageable with said shaft slotted end to retain saidshaft in a wound state; and means carried by said housing to pivot saidrelease pawl from engagement with said shaft slotted end whereby saidspring unwinds, causing rotation of said shaft and said magnetic; memberrelative to said coil to induce voltage in said coil.

2. A power supply for generating an electrical pulse as in claim]including a plurality of coils supported by said housing andencompassing said magnetic member.

3. A power supply for generating an electrical-pulse as in claim 1including electrical means adopted to pivotally disengage said pawl fromsaid slotted end of said extension arbor whereby said spring unwindscausing rotation of said magnetic member relative to said coil to inducevoltage in said coil.

4. A power supply for generating an electrical pulse as in claim 1including a leaf spring for prohibiting reengagement of said pawl intosaid'slotted end of said extension arbor after said pawl has beendisengaged therefrom.

5. A power supply for generating an electrical pulse as in claim 1including visual indication means for determining the wound or unwoundstate of said coil spring.

6. A power supply for generating an electric pulse according to claim 1including circuit means connected to said coil including means ofstoring at least a portion of the energy induced in said coil when saidmagnetic member is rotated relative to said coil and including timedelay means for releasing at least a portion of said energy at at leastone preselected time interval.

7. A power supply for generating an electrical pulse according to claim1 including remotely controllable pyrotechnic piston means supported tosaid housing and having connection with the release pawl, saidpyrotechnic means functioning as said means to operably release saidrelease pawl.

1. A power supply for generating an electrical pulse comprising: ahousing; a coil supported by said housing; a rotatably supported rotorshaft having a slotted end; a magnetic member supported by said shaft; aspring assembly interconnected to said shaft and adapted to store energywhen in a wound state; a release pawl pivotally secured to said housingand engageable with said shaft slotted end to retain said shaft in awound state; and means carried by said housing to pivot said releasepawl from engagement with said shaft slotted end whereby said springunwinds, causing rotation of said shaft and said magnetic memberrelative to said coil to induce voltage in said coil.
 2. A power supplyfor generating an electrical pulse as in claim 1 including a pluralityof coils supported by said housing and encompassing said magneticmember.
 3. A power supply for generating an electrical pulse as in claim1 including electrical means adopted to pivotally disengage said pawlfrom said slotted end of said extension arbor whereby said springunwinds causing rotation of said magnetic member relative to said coilto induce voltage in said coil.
 4. A power supply for generating anelectrical pulse as in claim 1 including a leaf spring for prohibitingreengagement of said pawl into said slotted end of said extension arborafter said pawl has been disengaged therefrom.
 5. A power supply forgenerating an electrical pulse as in claim 1 including visual indicationmeans for determining the wound or unwound state of said coil spring. 6.A power supply for generating an electric pulse according to claim 1including circuit means connected to said coil including means ofstoring at least a portion of the energy induced in said coil when saidmagnetic member is rotated relative to said coil and including timedelay means for releasing at least a portion of said energy at at leastone preselected time interval.
 7. A power supply for generating anelectrical pulse according to claim 1 including remotely controllablepyrotechnic piston means supported to said housing and having connectionwith the release pawl, said pyrotechnic means functioning as said meansto operably release said release pawl.